How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Shannon McCarthy

Narrative
The opening of our film provides as a narrative, the very start of the clip is a flashback andshots like the panning at the very start and the low angle shot at 0:09 give the audience an idea of the setting and whats happening in the film. The flashback is quite an important element in our film as it provides the back story for the later events.

Genre
During the flashback at the beginning it seems to fit the horror genre very well. We used a black and white filter which lets the audience know theyre watching a flashback and also adds to the eeriness of the scene. The music also conforms with the horror genre as its very simple and tense, it creates a sense of panic. The viewer can clearly see this scene is set in a forest, which seems to conform to typical horror film conventions. The rest of the clip is purely the three main characters talking, it doesnt seem very specific to the genre until the very end when the eerie music and close up shots of the ring are used to create tension.

Camera
We used particular shots to create a sense of tension in our scenes, for example the close up shots of the ring in our flashback and at the end of the scene. The slow planning, e.g. at the very start and during the credits helps establish the setting of the scene and the match on action creates a sense of realism within the scene.

Continuity, editing and sound

The match on action shots help the continuity of the scene and the over the shoulder shots used when a character is talking help to create realism within our film. The editing was fairly simple, though many shots- such as some during the flashback are faded together to make it seem smoother. We use a lot of music in this clip, the opening scene makes use of very atmospheric and eerie music whereas the opening credits has a quite sad piano melody, both seem quite fitting.

Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene seems to represent the genre quite well. The flashback scene is set in a forest, and we use props such as a hammer and a ring, all which seem to conform to the horror genre. The costume at the very beginning was chosen because it seemed to fit a 1960s style, which was when this scene was fit. Later on the three characters in the film are wearing what typical teenage girls would wear.

Typography
The typography in our film is fairly simple, but was chosen for its effect. We decided on a plain black background with white text to introduce the title of our film, Penance because it appears very dramatic.